OIC

In recent years, Kazakhstan has made an effort to deepen and expand cooperation with the world’s Islamic community. The focus has been on economic and cultural ties, but political and security issues have also been prominent due to the large number of internal and regional conflicts afflicting Muslim majority countries. Toward this end, in 1995, Kazakhstan joined the Organization for Islamic Conference (OIC), which was established in 1969. Kazakhstan then became the first Central Asian country to chair the organization as the rotating head of its Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) from June 2011 to November 2012. READ MORE

Kazakhstan as one of the largest countries of Asia is gradually becoming a center of political transformation of the Islamic world. As head of the 38th Council of Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the country is making every effort to resolve the pressing problems of the Islamic community. READ MORE

A common relief fund of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member countries will be established on Kazakhstan’s initiative to help the Somali people on the edge of a food crisis. This was announced on August 17 by Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister and Chairman of OIC Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) Yerzhan Kazykhanov, following an OIC emergency meeting in Istanbul, during which member-countries discussed ways to resolve the humanitarian and political crisis in Somalia. READ MORE

Starting in June 2011 Kazakhstan will chair the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). For the first time in its 42-year-long life, the OIC will be led by a state positioning itself as the Central Asian leader with ample experience in bridging East and West, which is what this authoritative organization factually seeks: to be close-knit and respect each participating state's sovereignty. READ MORE

Co-ordinated efforts are needed to battle the rise of Islamophobia, intolerance and discrimination against Muslims, the Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, told the OSCE Permanent Council. READ MORE